Two Jersey gems secured, but others need funding

RELEASE: May 1, 2009 – Volume XLI, No. 18

New Jersey is full of natural beauty. This may be news to some out-of-staters, who think only of industrial areas along the Turnpike, or our abundance of strip malls and suburban McMansions. But New Jerseyans know of our state's hidden natural inspirations. And they know we must keep preserving them.

In the early days of our young nation, Alexander Hamilton was inspired by the power of the Passaic River’s 77-foot Great Falls. He saw a natural engine for powering industry. His vision turned Paterson into our country's first great industrial city, producing everything from silk to locomotives.

Paterson’s Great Falls are literally and figuratively steeped in history, surrounded today by the husks of factories and mills long abandoned. The Great Falls are a scenic wonder, and the juxtaposition with our industrial past makes their natural beauty even more striking.

Just a few weeks ago, the 35-acre Great Falls site became New Jersey's newest National Historic Park. In 2004, the Falls became an official state park but lobbying for more venerable federal park status continued. Community leaders have long viewed the Great Falls as the centerpiece of potential redevelopment of the historic center of the city. Now they have the opportunity to achieve through tourism and recreation what they once did through electricity: powering the economic engine of a city.

At the opposite end of this state we’re in, another relic of industry is also finding amazing new life as a park.

Rising from the Delaware River, nestled between industrial Camden and the Philadelphia skyline, Petty’s Island is home to a tank farm and shipping port. But about 60 percent of the 400-acre island remains forested. The island provides habitat for the bald eagle, our national symbol, and lies within view of the Ben Franklin Bridge and our nation’s birthplace.

The CITGO Petroleum Corp. offered to donate the island to the state for free a few years ago, and - believe it or not - fund a complete, independent environmental restoration… and provide over $3 million as an endowment that would be used to manage the property as a wildlife refuge and education center. Developers also had their eyes on Petty’s Island, however, and the donation was initially rejected – incredible as that might seem.

Earlier this year, however, the tides turned for this unique place and the New Jersey Natural Lands Trust voted to accept CITGO’s offer. On Earth Day, April 22, Gov. Jon Corzine officially announced plans for Petty's Island to become a permanent natural area.

The result will be an urban wilderness park – an entire island! – with nature trails and unsurpassed opportunities for “watchable wildlife.” The fourth largest island in the Delaware will now provide one of the only accessible, natural open spaces along the river in Camden County, and will be an asset to citizens of an entire metropolitan area!

The preservation of Paterson Great Falls and Petty’s Island is wonderful news. But, right now, there are many more inspiring places around our state that can't be saved by corporate donations or federal designations. These are treasures, 700,000 to 1,000,000 acres of natural lands, which still need rescuing from potential sprawl and pavement.

Without a continuing source of funds for New Jersey’s Garden State Preservation Trust, these lands – their waters, productive farm fields, wildlife habitats, histories and vistas, their ability to inspire us all – will be lost.

You can do something about this! Contact your legislators and Gov. Corzine and let them know that you want them to continue investing in our state's natural, farmland and historic preservation assets by renewing the Trust this year!

To learn more about the accomplishments of the Garden State Preservation Trust, go to www.nj.gov/gspt/. And I hope you’ll visit New Jersey Conservation Foundation’s website at www.njconservation.org or contact me at info@njconservation.org for more information about conserving land and natural resources.

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